Room cooler



Sept. 4, 1934. .1. c. MALM ET AL ROOM COOLER Filed 00 3. 22, 1932 Fig. 3

lhveniol's v Patented Sept. 4, 1934 Angeles, Calif., assignors toCalifornia Consumers Oompany, Los Angeles, Calil'., a corporation ofDelaware Application October 22, 1932, Serial No. tsaom 3 Claims. (01.62-103) This invention relates to refrigerating equipment andparticularly that used for cooling the air in a room or similarcompartment.

Heretofore it has been the custom in hot 5, weather to use a motor.driven fan to keep the air in the room in circulation, thus promotingthe normal evaporation of moisture from the body by increasing the rateof heat transfer. This offers some relief, but does not' actually reducethe air temperature, whichmay rise to excessive values in the middle ofthe day in certain parts of the West and Southwest.

Another expedient which has been tried is that of evaporative cooling,where a large expanse of moistened fabric or the like is placed in aroom and a current of air from a fan directed against it. The heatrequired to evaporate the moisture is'removed from the air, therebyreducing the air temperature. This method has the disadvantage ofrequiring frequent attendance and some form of water feed or circulatingequipment. Also it raises the relative humidity of the air in the .room,and makes the high temperature more oppressive. This latter is a seriousdisadvantage, as will readily be appreciated.

It is an object of this invention to provide an air cooler which isportable and which is inexpensive to manufacture and use.

Another object is to provide an air. cooler which will reduce ratherthan increase the relative humidity of the air in a room.

Another object is to provide a circulating air cooler which is capableof controlled operation.

A still further object is to provide a circulating air cooler whichis'adapted to use ice as a refrigerant. l

These and other objects will be more fully apparent from the descriptionwhich follows, and from the accompanying drawing which forms a part ofthis specification and illustrates a preferred embodiment of thisinvention.

In the drawing: 1

Figure 1 is a vertical and part sectional view of a room coolerconstructed according to this invention, showing the finned constructionof the ice tank.

Figure 2 is a horizontalsectional view to a reduced scale on the lineIII[ of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view to a reduced scale on the lineIII-III of Figure 1, showing the arrangement of condensate pans at thebottom of the cooler.

Referring to Figure 1, the casing 11 of the cooler is formed of sheetsteel and may be painted or 5 enameled to suit on its outer surface. Thelower end of casing 11 is supported upon casters 12 in order that thedevice may be readily portable. Surrounding the lower part of the baseis a cast iron skirt or shield 13 provided with horizontal brackets orlugs 14 .to which the casters may be fastened. A strip of rubber 15surrounds the lower portion of-base '13 to act as a guard or bumper.

The top of the casing 11 is covered by means of a cast'iron grille 16provided with openings 1'1 for the passage of the cooled air asindicated by the arrows. Cover 16 is attached to casing 11 -by means ofa suitable hinge 18. Rheostat 19 with a lever 20 may be fastened to thelower side of the cover with the handle of lever 20 projecting through asuitable arcuate' slot in the cover. This allows a variable speedcontrol of the motor and fan which will be described later.

The sides of casing 11 are preferably insulated by means of fiber boardor similar sheathing 21, 5 which may be attached by means of suitableclips (not shown) at the upper and lower ends of the casing. Thisprevents the condensation of moisture on the inside of the casing due tothe passage of the cooled air therethrough.

A refrigerant tank 22, which is preferably pro vided with a plurality oflongitudinal fins 23, is suspended in the upper portion of casing 11.This may be done by means of a steel strap 24 inside the top edge oftank 22 with straps 25 attached to the casing at its four corners. Tank22 may be made from galvanized steel or othersuitable corrosionresisting material; It is preferably formed with an inverted pyramidshaped bottom 26 in order to facilitate drainage of water from themelted charge of ice.

A drain connection 27 is fitted near the lowest point of tank bottom 26with a faucet 28 adapted to be connected to a length of common gardenhose (not shown) in order to remove the icewater after the charge of icehas become entirely melted.

A removable door 29 is provided in casing 11 at a point opposite thedrain connection 27 and faucet 28 in order to facilitate the emptying ofthe tank 22. This door may be of any suitable construction, that shownbeing a single sheet with crimped edges and simple spring latches 30 .atits upper edge, the latter adapted to be retained in recesses 31 in theupper edge of the door opening.

It is obvious that a tank containing ice and ice water at a temperatureof 32 F.', past which warm and probably humid air is being circulated,will cause moisture to condenseion its outer sur face. In order topreventthis moisture from dripping onto the fioor a series of condensatereceptacles or pans relatively staggered in plan to permit upward airfiow are provided beneath the bottom 26 of tank 22. V

The uppermost of these is designated 32-, is square in section andconforms to the pyramidal shape of the tank bottom 26. It extendsoutwardly to the edge of the main body of the tank butdoe not extendbeneath the fins 23 thereof. Pan .32 y be supported by four solderedclips 33 at the our comers of the pan. 2

Benea the central opening of pan 32 is mounted a second and smallersquare pan 34 of conventional pan" shape. This pan is provided with aspoutv 35 which extends outwardly and downwardly to a point near thedoor29 in casing 11. The drip fromthis pan is. received in a removabledrip receptacle 36 which is supported upon two ledges 37 at either sideof the door opening.

Below pan 34 is a third condensate pan 38 which also serves as a baflleto direct the air' from the'fan which will be described below. Pan 38isprovided with a circular rim 39 closely surrounding the fan blades.From rim 39 pan 38 extends outwardly'and upwardly to the sheathing 21inside of casing 11. Thus pan 38 willaccumulate any condensate from thefins 23 of tank 22. The rim 39 will prevent the condensate flowingoverinto the central opening, and'a small hole 40 immediately above dripreceptacle 36 will allow ofclips or screws (not shown), or it may besup-' this condensate to' fall into this receptacle from which it may bedisposed of at the time the ma tank is emptied. Pan 38 maybe securedto-casing 11 by means ported by means of vertical angles 41 in the fourcorners of the casing, thelower ends of the angles resting upon brackets14 of the cast iron base 13. Pan 34 maybe supported by means of wires orstraps 42 from rim 39 of pan 38 as shown. The

lower and outer end of spout. 35 may also be supported on rim. 39. Atthe door opening in casing 11 a cut 43 (Figure 3) is preferably made inpan 38 in order to allow access to the drain valve 28. This'opening alsopermits the end of spout 35 to discharge its condensate into the dripreceptacle 36.

Amotor 44 is supported beneath pan 38 by two steel straps 45 extendingfrom adjacent corners of the casing 11 and attached at their outermostends to brackets 14. Motor 44 is preferably of a type which operate in avertical position and is provided with a fan or impeller 46 which fitswithin the rim 39 of pan 38. In the drawing the impeller is of thecustomary axial flow, radial vane or propeller" type. It is equallyfeasible to use a squirrel cage" or radial flow centrifugal type ofimpeller for this purpose by suitable alteration of pan 38. Thechangesare so obvious to one skilled in the m that no further description isrequired here. The duplex supplywire 47 for themotor may lead through asuitable insulating bushing 48 near the top of casing 11, thence to therheostat 19 and thence downwardly, with a loop for allowing the cover 16to be opened, to the motor 44. A suitable connection plug 49 may beprovided at the outer end of wire 47. I

In operation, a suitable cake of ice 50, for example 100 pounds, may beplaced in the tank 22 by lifting the cover 16 and removing the innertank cover 51. A quantity 'of water 52, for example two or threegallons, may be poured into fer from the fins 23 and tank 22 to the bodyof the ice 50. The plug 49 is then connected to a suitable electricpower supply and the switch lever 20 is moved to that position whichwill cause the motor driven blower 46 to circulate air at the desiredrate. Air will be drawn inwardly from beneath the base 13 ofthe'apparatus and forced upwardly by "the motor driven fan. The air willpass around the finned tank 22, giving up its heat to the cold 18degrees dry-bulb temperature for a period of from 6 to 10 hours. At thesame .time the relative humidity of the room will be lowered from 8 to16 or approximately 20%.

The air circulating through the device not only gives up its heat asdescribed but also a portion of its moisture content by condensation onthe outer surfaces of tank 22 and fins 23 thus reducing the relativehumidity under normal conditions from 8 to 16%. Physical comfortis afunction of temperature and humidity, and temperatures of the range ofF. may be unobjectionable if the relative humidity is maintained atabout 20%. Therefore, it is apparent that an idealdevice of thecharacter described'should be capable not only of reducing thetemperature of the circulating air but also of bringing its humidity toaproper degree for physical comfort.

Although a specific construction embodying this invention has beendescribed andillustrated, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to that specific device, and all such modifications andchanges as come, within the scope of the appended claims are embracedthereby.

We claim:

1. A room cooler comprising an uprightcasing, a receptacle for icedisposed within said casing, a passage for air between said casing andsaid receptacle, a blower beneath said receptacle adapted to circulateair upwardly through said air passage and said casing in substantiallystraight line fiow, and a plurality of super-imposed condensatereceiving means below said air into the bottom of said casing. force itthrough 3 the said air passage and deliver it out of said air outlet insubstantially straight line flow, and a plurality of superimposedinter-connected condensate receiving means. below said receptacle,

said last named means being relatively staggered in 3 plan and adaptedto leave said air passages substantially unobstructed.

3. A room cooler comprising an upright casing, a receptacle for icewithin said casing, a e for air between said casing and said receptacle,

an air outlet in the top of said casing and an air ceiving meansextending efiectively entirely below inlet in the bottom of said casing,a blower besaid receptacle and adapted to leave said air pasneath saidreceptacle adapted to draw air into the sage unobstructed, and aremovable condensate bottom of said casing, force it through said aircollector below said condensate receiving means.

5 passage and deliver it out of said air outlet in i JOHN C. MALM. 30

substantiall straight line flow, condensate re- RAYMOND C. WALSH.

